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President Obama's appointment of George Mitchell as special Middle East envoy is seen as a step in the right direction regarding U.S. policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But there remains questions as to whether Mitchell is fully invested and, more importantly, whether the Obama administration is ready to risk the needed political muscle. A brief reflection on Mitchell's past and especially his peacemaking and negotiating forte will help with our quest.

Following his retirement from his two full terms in the Senate, Mitchell led a commission which oversaw the Northern Ireland peace process and played an important mediating role in negotiations between Catholic and Protestant leaders, which resulted in the Good Friday Accords of 1998. His even-handed approach and conflict-resolution skills were widely praised and have led to hopes that he may be able to move the Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward as well.

Some would argue that it has been a long time for the Muslim world to hear these words: "There is no reason why we cannot rebuild the same respect and the same partnership with the Islamic world that America had 20 or 30 years ago." These words were recently spoken by President Obama to the Al Arabiya TV in his first full interview addressing the Arab and Muslim world.

At the same time, Obama emphasized that he wants to convey to Americans that the Islamic world consists of human beings with the same dream of a better life for themselves and their children as they have. This he experienced as a child in Indonesia, where he spent part of his childhood. In itself, Obama's January 28th interview with Al Arabiya, was a highly symbolic event. But this "media charm offensive" marks not only a new political style, but also a definitive break with the simplistic dualism and friend-enemy rhetoric of the Bush era.

As seemingly eternal rivals, Hamas and Israel are at it again, making the same old mistakes. The latest attacks won't solve anything. The world, especially the US, has to finally get involved in the Middle East conflict. We cannot simply wait by the sidelines till a victor emerges because no such outcome is possible. This is an assessment based on the imperatives of the Israeli-Arab conflict, especially the underlying nature of the occupied-occupying imbalance of both economic and military power and the resolve of the Palestinians to regain their occupied lands.

No country in the world would accept being regularly fired at with rockets without taking action against the offending party. That's why Israel is counting on international support and using renewed rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip since the end of the six-month ceasefire announced by Hamas last week as justification for its massive military invasion in Gaza.
Hamas, along with other groups in the Gaza Strip, is "taking revenge" by firing rockets once again on southern Israel. Unless there's a miracle, this is the perfect situation for a further escalation with unforeseen consequences. But it's also a completely superfluous (yet final) proof that the promises made at the Annapolis Conference in the US in November 2007 to resume peace talks with the aim of reaching a comprehensive agreement by the end of 2008 were nothing more than empty words.

While President-elect Obama will be preoccupied with the nation's economic meltdown, foreign issues will still hover over his head demanding attention. The seemingly intractable Palestine-Israel conflict cannot be relegated, for its volatile continuance has precluded the realization of the declared American national interests in the Middle East, namely the promotion of democratic regimes, the security of Israel, the establishment of the Palestine state, and above all, a more normal relationship with the Arab and Muslim world.

Except for campaign promises, President Obama has yet to articulate a much more definitive position. It is a fact that setting the U.S. on a new course in this troubled part of the world will be an extremely difficult challenge. Fortunately, there exists a rare opportunity for Arab and Jewish Americans, a segregated and politically exclusive constituency to provide leadership, moral support, and guidance in delivering a lasting peace to a tormented region.

I recently read a substantial article in the Star Ledger about nascent efforts on how to teach kids about the September 11, 2001 attacks. Refreshingly, the piece not once did it include a pejorative mention of the words Arab or Muslim! That fateful day is ingrained in my soul for instead of being counted among the dead, my life was spared because of some unexpected traffic delay.

While we laud the State's effort to develop a supplemental curriculum to be offered in public schools about the significance of the horrific attacks, we however believe the effort would be incomplete without active participation of and consultation with our community. We have qualified Arab and Muslim organizations, educators and academics whose expertise and views of the world is pivotal to a more compressive, accurate interpretation of the "ultimate teachable moment" in American history.

Curiously, the article presents the initiative as the first in the state and the nation. It makes no mention of current (albeit deficient) textbooks and teaching materials developed either by non-profit organizations or established publishing houses. A 2008 forthcoming book will demonstrate the findings on the content of 9/11 text and video curriculum materials from six major U.S. non-profit curricular organizations, along with a video and accompanying lessons developed by the U.S. Department of State. (PhD Dissertation by Jeremy d. Stoddard) .More online resources below. It goes without saying that much time and money can be saved if the State would canvases the available material. In fact, The North Jersey Media Group Foundation "has agreed to fund part of the cost to finalize and distribute a completed curriculum by May 2009", according to Anthony Gardner, director of The September 11th Education Trust.

The finished curricula will unavoidably render a judgment on the linkage between terrorism and every thing Arab or Muslim. It has been our long standing argument that bigotry and stereotyping fester when a community is not given a chance to define who it is and what it stands for. Arab and Muslim Americans are entitled to define who they are. We are ready to take responsibility for acts committed by members of our community while at the same time argue against prevailing misconceptions.

The 9/11 attacks have irreversibly altered the perception we have of and about Arabs and Muslims because the 19 perpetrators were Arab and Muslim. Regrettably, the more than 9 million Arab and Muslim citizens in this country continue to bear the stigma and the punishment for their cultural or religious linkage to the terrorists. Their civil and religious rights have been violated without any tangible evidence that they have been complicit in the attacks. While racial and ethnic profiling is frowned upon as a means to catch criminals, it remains glaringly manifested in the many laws and regulations that have been enacted since 2001.

It is a fallacy in many current textbooks which present terrorism as an uncontested phenomena and give the clear impression that terrorism is more of a curse for the United States and its friends than for the rest of the world. This one aspect, if corrected, more than justifies the planned project.

We urge the organizers to seek out input from qualified members of our community who are keenly aware of the complexity of teaching about such a topic. Our collective expertise is vital to a more comprehensive curriculum development project. We are ready to share both our technical and topical insights on effectively conveying the message that terrorism is a despicable human disease that must be confronted. That 9/11 was a turning point in our nation's sense of immunity from the curse of terrorism. That the victims of 9/11 were innocent people, some of whom were not even citizens of the USA, and some of whom who were Arab and Muslim. Teaching about 9/11 to impressionable minds is a delicate task commanding not only good intentions but a reasoned and impartial curriculum devoid of false assumptions, discredited stereotypical myths, and ideological constraints.

Whatever we do, however, must be pursued without castigating entire communities who are just as afflicted by its ugly face. We have a vested interest not only in exposing terrorism but also in its complete eradication. It is a fact that more Muslims have been the victims of terrorism than any other group. The end result must not be a camouflaged political propaganda and misinformation campaign.

Textbooks should advance the curriculum, stimulate student learning, and encourage educational achievement for children of all backgrounds. We must never forget that our children are moral beings in progress, apprentices in public life. We must avoid seeking to misinform our children about recent historical events that have shaped our world.

How we recall September 11th, and how we analyze its implications and its impact, not only will shape how historical memory is constructed. Importantly, these processes also contribute to an evolving dynamism whereby we, collectively continually redefine ourselves, our politics, our society and the world in which we live.

Teaching our kids is a precious mandate in which we wish to have our say. We await the call.